MLB Players Association seeks dismissal of Alex Rodriguez lawsuit

By Haley Draznin,CNN

Updated 5:03 PM ET, Tue February 4, 2014

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Alex Rodriguez: Performance-enhancing drugs – Alex Rodriguez is suspended for the 2014 regular and postseason over accusations of taking performance-enhancing drugs and having ties to the now-shuttered Biogenesis clinic in South Florida.

Hide Caption

1 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Barry Bonds: Perjury indictment – Barry Bonds is baseball's all-time home run leader, but some commentators say there should be an asterisk by his record. Though he's said he never knowingly used steroids, two San Francisco reporters wrote a book alleging he used performance-enhancing drugs. In 2007, he was indicted on charges of perjury and obstructing justice for allegedly lying to a grand jury investigating steroids and convicted of obstruction of justice. Here are some of Major League Baseball's biggest scandals:

Hide Caption

2 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Roger Clemens: Steroid allegations – Known as Rocket for his aggressive pitching style, Roger Clemens played pro ball for more than two decades, racking up seven Cy Young Awards. He left Major League Baseball under a cloud of steroid allegations, despite a court finding him not guilty of perjury in 2012 when he told Congress he never used the drugs.

Hide Caption

3 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Rafael Palmeiro: Steroid suspension – After his former Texas Rangers teammate Jose Canseco accused him of using steroids, Rafael Palmeiro appeared before Congress in 2005 to deny the allegations. Later that year, he was suspended from baseball for testing positive for steroids. He maintains to this day he has never knowingly taken performance enhancers.

Hide Caption

4 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Mark McGwire: Steroids admission – An Olympian and renowned long-ball hitter, Mark McGwire spent his entire career with the Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals, breaking the single-season home run record in 1998. In 2010, he admitted using steroids over the course of a decade but told Bob Costas in an interview he took them only for health reasons.

Hide Caption

5 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

John Rocker: Outrageous comments – John Rocker's pitching career with the Atlanta Braves only lasted a few seasons because of his offensive comments about homosexuals, New Yorkers, Asian women and a black teammate in a Sports Illustrated article. Rocker faced large backlash and ultimately was cut by the Braves in 2001 and played for three other teams before calling it quits in 2003.

Hide Caption

6 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Marge Schott: Hitler observation – Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott faced lawsuits, fines from the MLB and suspensions during her career for her offhand comments and actions. Schott told ESPN in 1996 that "Hitler was good in the beginning, but he went too far." That comment drew a $25,000 fine and one-year suspension.

Hide Caption

7 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

George Steinbrenner: Dirty dealings – Former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, center, was banned for life in 1990 for hiring a man to investigate Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield's background for any dirt. The ban was later reduced to a two-year suspension.

Hide Caption

8 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Pete Rose: Gambling on baseball – Cincinnati Reds switch-hitter Pete Rose was caught gambling on baseball games during the 1987 season. Fingerprints from betting slips and a handwriting expert's testimony ultimately led to Rose being banned from baseball.

Hide Caption

9 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Darryl Strawberry: Cocaine, prostitutes – Darryl Strawberry, right, was suspended multiple times throughout his career for cocaine possession and soliciting prostitutes. Strawberry released a book in which he claims that several players with the 1980s Mets committed the same offenses.

Hide Caption

10 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Ferguson Jenkins: First drug suspension – Pitcher Ferguson Jenkins was the first baseball player to be suspended for a drug-related offense. Ferguson was arrested in Toronto in 1980 for cocaine possession and promptly banned for life. However, the ban was lifted only a month later and he returned to the pitchers mound for the Chicago Cubs in 1982.

Hide Caption

11 of 12

Photos: Baseball's biggest scandals12 photos

Chicago White Sox: The big fix – Gambler Arnold Rothstein was the financial backer accused of being behind the fixed 1919 World Series. Eight Chicago White Sox players were allegedly bribed to throw the game with money provided by Rothstein. He denied all allegations before a grand jury and was later exonerated of any wrongdoing. All eight players involved in the fix were banned for life.

Hide Caption

12 of 12

Story highlights

Lawyers for New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez have until Friday to respond to a letter from the Major League Baseball Players Association seeking a dismissal of Rodriguez's lawsuit claiming the union did not adequately represent him.

The lawsuit stems from Rodriguez's recent 162-game steroid suspension and his efforts to get a Manhattan federal court to throw out the record-setting penalty.

The players union, which represented Rodriguez in his arbitration proceeding, claims in the letter that the "union's forceful advocacy" was demonstrated by the reduction of his suspension from the 211 games sought by MLB, among other things.

In a four-page letter addressed to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, dated Thursday, the union asked the court to throw out the claim against the union because Rodriguez "does not allege facts sufficient to overturn the [Arbitration] Award" and failed to provide evidence of a breach of the union's duties in representing him.

A spokesman for Rodriguez, Ron Berkowitz, declined to comment Tuesday.

In a federal lawsuit filed Jan. 13, Rodriguez accused the players union of acting in "bad faith" in representing him during the arbitration process. Rodriguez filed the lawsuit in New York's Southern District court against Major League Baseball and the union in an effort to get back on the field next season.

The players union has denied that allegation.

A pre-motion conference is set for February 14, and Rodriguez's lawyers were ordered to respond to the union's letter one week before.

CNN sought comment from Rodriguez's lawyers but has not received a response.

The suspension will not only cost Rodriguez $25 million in salary, but it also further clouds the groundbreaking career of a player who'll turn 40 in the 2015 season.

Rodriguez, one of 14 players suspended in the Biogenesis scandal, was the only one who appealed his suspension. Though he was suspended in August, Rodriguez played out the 2013 season because of the appeal.

Rodriguez, 38, is fifth on MLB's list of all-time home run leaders, just six homers behind Willie Mays.